Up to the present time no process such as that of the present application has been known for producing articles similar to the natural materials above mentioned; what is known in the art is the production of pieces of cast metal or ceramics, obtained by means of molds. The effort has been made to produce rigid plastic articles, similar to such natural materials. However, success has not been achieved in imitating bamboo, and the the invention is accordingly limited to the reproduction of simulated bamboo.
Up to the present time pieces of furniture such as chairs, rockers, headrests, shelves, tables and the like have been produced from rattan, bamboo and other natural materials, which have an extremely high cost and which require a great deal of maintenance; furthermore they cannot be used out of doors because of their low resistance to the elements, and are also easily broken, since these natural materials are not sufficiently strong to bear fairly great weight.
In the specific case of rattan, it is well known that this material is scarce, since it grows only in Eastern countries, and very expensive; it is also difficult to work and requires selection; finally the pieces made from it cannot be used out of doors.
Furniture made from natural materials, such as a chair or a rocker, generally include cushions which are covered with cloth, other textile material, plastic, or leather; these cushions are supported by a reed or wickerwork woven structure built into the piece of furniture, presenting the same drawbacks as pointed out above. An additional problem arises from the method required for weaving wickerwork, since it must be kept submerged in water to give it flexibility and ease of manipulation. This method, besides being slow, is dirty, and there is always the risk of wetting delicate portions of the furniture.
The procedures for coloring or veining various articles of different materials such as ceramics and metal, and making them resemble the veining of wood, have consisted merely of coloring or dying the surface of the materials, later applying a coat of varnish or lacquer to provide a brilliant surface, or merely of applying on the surface thin layers of printed wallpaper that simulated the veining of wood.
These processes have the disadvantage that they are not very appropriate for application to thermoplastic materials, since paints or dyes generally do not show good adherence to these synthetic materials; and consequently the application of any solvent, however weak, or mere use and exposure produce deterioration and removal of the paint, leaving the synthetic material exposed and unprotected.
The procedures known heretofore for typing knots for this type of furniture, using straps or strips of rattan bark, reeds, rushes or rawhide have the drawback that they must be secured by means of nails or other device. These ties also have poor resistance to weathering, and also the tendency to stretch or shrink with changes of temperature; they also eventually get dirty, rot, and fail.
These systems of typing are very well known, as is the use of natural materials for carrying them out, as proposed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,936,009 and 3,297,063 of John C. McGuire, in which rawhide is used to make the ties, which are secured in place with nails, tacks, etc.